The Gamer Gods: 100 Theme Challenge
by EastCoastHoosier
Summary: The main character of the Pokémon games wakes up one day and realizes that she no longer has complete control of her body. She walks outside and notices that there is a girl where the sun should be, watching over her and controlling her. But, when the world becomes covered in darkness, she regains control. Enjoy these snapshots of the Pokémon world where they know they're a game.
1. I Introduction

**Introduction**

That was the weirdest dream ever. Without a doubt, there had to have been drugs involved. Somehow Professor Oak was in my dreams and wouldn't stop saying every proper noun in ALL CAPS. And he had the gall to ask me if I was a girl or boy, as well as what her name was. I'm sure that my dream self is very well aware of all of this information. And, well, it just all seemed so weird.

But, whatever, none of that is important. Instead I'm just going to have a normal day, hang out with my mother, hang out with Ethan (and secretly be way too jealous of the fact that he has a Pokemon), and plan out my Pokemon journey, whenever that happens.

I go to walk downstairs when the strangest thing happens. I just feel urged to walk in this direction. I try to move in a different direction and it just feels wrong. I start to walk down the stairs when I run into my mom. Ok, maybe she'll shed some light on this…

Nope. She just starts talking nonsense. And I seem to also feel like she's capitalizing all the proper nouns. Strange, did something change overnight? And, what's this? She's asking me if I know how to make a phone call? Of course I do! I am a teenage girl after all! And what are these "options" that she is speaking of? Whatever, not important. What is important is that she told me that Professor Elm wanted to talk to me! An errand! Maybe, just maybe, I'll get a Pokemon!

I try to run outside, but I can't move faster than a walk. Everything just seems so off. I finally get outside and go to look up…. And stop in shock. I see the face of a girl looking down from the sky, smiling and pressing buttons. _I'm moving when she presses the buttons._ What.

Unable to really comprehend what this means about my life, and unable to control the urging from the girl above me to walk into Elm's lab, I dutifully follow the commands the overlord gives me.

* * *

I received my Pokemon (Cyndaquil!) as I was hoping. But, of course, beforehand I had to stare at the different Pokemon for, like, 5 minutes before the girl above me made a decision. I'm just glad that she seems to have good taste in Pokemon and didn't pick a crappy starter.

Then the strangest thing happened. I heard a noise that was foreign to my world. I looked up and saw the girl curse, turn away, and then black. But when she went away, I could move again, of my own freewill.

Professor Elm ran over to me, worried etched across his brow.

"Are you alright? I didn't know that you were the chosen one!"

"What? Chosen one?"

"Yes, the Gods declared it that when the ultimate Pokemon trainer begins their journey, one of the Gods will watch over them and guide them on their path."

"Guide? You mean control like a robot, I haven't been able to truly move on my own in forever. And, Elm, why is it that you've been unable to talk and act on your own either?"

"It's one of the powers the God has, you know how in the video games you play there are NPCs? We've all become NPCs. Except for you, you are the hero."

"I'm a video game hero. You've got to be kidding me. How the hell did that happen?"

"You were born with it." A rumble is heard in the distance, followed by a chime. "Oh no! We only have a minute left! Some last minute information! When the game continues you will be automatically transported to the place in which the game was paused. You are able to do whatever you want during off time though. Call me when you are free again!"

And then the world was filled with an unearthly light, and Elm has disappeared back into the lab without a trace.


	2. II Complicated

**II. Complicated**

_Why is this so hard?_

Here I am, trudging my way through Route 22, trying to get to Mr. Pokemon's house with my trusty Cyndaquil by my side. I had felt a strong urge to name him Incendio. Whatever. I'm starting to get used to the whole God controlling my every movement thing. I'm still not getting over the whole ultimate Pokemon trainer who will save the world thing. That's just weird. But hey, I take what I get. And, if being the ultimate trainer is what I get, who am I to argue?

But, while the world has become so much easier, not having to think about what I am doing, where I am going, or even what is going on, I just feel so confused. Being a mindless slave to a God above you is scary, trust me. I thought that my Pokemon journey would be me running around with my starter wherever the wind would take me. I thought I'd be free to explore every nook and cranny. But no, I have a path, and I must take it.

My God, the player of this game my life has become, seems to be really relaxed about playing though. She will pick it up, control me for about an hour at a time, and then put me back down. She also seems to be really invested in making sure my party is leveled up.

Leveling… that is a term I haven't heard before this craziness happened. I grew up thinking that there was a Pokemon, and it got stronger. But no, apparently each Pokemon starts at a level and increases the more you use it. She keeps me updated with how leveled I am, exclaiming whenever Incendio levels up, as well as keeping me up-to-date with any new moves that may have been learned. I always thought that you had to sit down with your Pokemon and teach them how to do whatever move it was you were trying to teach, but She told me that Incendio had learned Ember without me doing any work, and, lo and behold, he had learned Ember.

The people I pass by as I walk all seem to look at me with wide eyes. They fight for my gaze, desperate to be able to speak, even if they can only say the same phrase over and over again. They can all tell that I am the special one. I am, by the way, the only one who can really move. I mean, so can Ethan (I wonder how he is doing), but the rest of the people of the world? Frozen. They may be able to move in a small circle or in a line, but they cannot deviate when I am around. I have become the catalyst that has ruined everyone's lives. I try to give them all my most sincere gaze as I walk by.

The game pauses. I can hear collective cheering in the distance from the freed citizens of Johto. I scramble to see them. I need to see who they truly are, and I need them to know that I don't want this to happen to them. My appearance sparks conversation in the group of people below the ridge I am standing on. There is fear on a lot of their faces, they start to clutch to each other, terrified of being alone again. I wave my hands. They cheer. We are free for this short amount of time. The world may have completely changed, everyone may have lost their free will, but we have hope that there will be a pause soon and we will rise.


	3. III Making History

**III. Making History**

There's a general expectancy amongst the people of the Johto region of how trainers are supposed to grow in the world. You get your Pokemon and for the first few months you train really, really hard and you might get a badge or two. It usually takes two or three years in order to even be thinking about having all eight badges, and then you train for a little while longer to begin the journey through Victory Road to the Elite Four.

I, of course, was the exception. I don't think that I'll ever get over that fact. Rather than spend weeks camping out in the wilderness around Violet City training my party to its fullest potential before taking on Faulkner as I had been planning, I instead swept my way through Sprout Tower to the north, and then the gym itself after only three days on the road. I know that was a record. I asked Faulkner later.

Usually catching Pokemon required you to knock them out before you could attempt to catch them. That's what I've been taught my whole life. But no, that's not how things work nowadays. I know it's because of video game logic, but it is so irritating to see that if I try to destroy the Pokemon before catching it, it disappears. I don't know where it goes, I think I'll ask Elm next pause, but instead I have to catch them before they faint.

Catching and training Pokemon seems to come easily to me, despite the increased difficulty in timing when to throw the Pokeball, which I attribute to the whole protagonist thing. While training for the Violet City gym, I've caught a Pidgey (named Leviosa), a Bellsprout (named Oleander), a Hophip (named Dandy Lion), a Spinark (named Parker), and even a Zubat (named Zuzu). Zubat are well-known for being annoyances and pests, and yet when I ran into one in the Dark Cave, I could hear the God start cheering and go out of her way to catch it. It is still rather week now, but can use Supersonic, which I guess can be useful.

We at least have an agreement as to what sort of Pokemon we like, grass and poison types are fabulous. Though, I'm a bit worried whether that opinion is mine or hers. I don't remember what my favorite Pokemon types were before I left on my journey. I wish I could remember what I was like before I started this journey; it's starting to fade away. I'm going to need to call Mom on the next pause as well so I can get a refresher.

I'm worried as to what all of our roles are in this game. I mean, I know that I'm the protagonist. I'm worried about the boy who plays my Rival in all of this. I have a feeling that if it wasn't for the story line of this damn game that he would be such a different person. He probably wouldn't have resorted to stealing that Totodile for one. We could have been partners in our journey, along with Ethan. I wonder where Ethan is. I haven't seen or heard from him in forever.

Also, about my Rival. I feel _so _bad for him. When I battled him after receiving the Pokemon Egg, I grabbed a hold of his ID. His name was Giovanni Jr. but the player, probably finding herself hilarious, named him Douchebag. I know that the other characters that have heard his new name have had mirth in their eyes whenever it is mentioned. I'd hate to see how he'll react to hearing his name in person.

History is written by the victors I guess, even if they haven't won yet.


	4. IV Rivalry

**IV Rivalry**

Leaving Violet City, I was prepared to move on towards Azalea and prepare to kick some bug butt! But, on the way there, there were Pokemon to catch and trainers to annihilate and levels to grind. Gosh, I was starting to sound like my player above. Next pause I will have to write it down in my journal of things that are slowly changing about me.

In the meantime though, I need to level up my Hophip to a level in which it can actually attack things, that is very important.

_Ring Ring_

Ooooo! Phone calls! Those are rare!

_Youngster Joey_

Shit.

The player was watching, so Joey just spouted some random nonsense about his Rattata being in the top percentage of Rattata or something. But, I knew he meant something more. It was a battle cry. _It was on._

Youngster Joey and I were rivals. Not Douchebag or Giovanni Jr. or whatever. Youngster Joey and his motherloving Rattata. He was the only trainer I had ever lost to in game. He only won because the player decided to run up to him despite the fact that my only Pokemon at the time, Leviosa and Incendio, were rather weak due to some hardcore trainer in the grass right next to him. His piece of crap Rattata ripped right through my weakened defenses and caused both of my Pokemon to faint. But don't you worry, I got him back next time. I destroyed him. But that doesn't stop him from calling from time to time to gloat. I hate gloaters.

While he may have been spouting nonsense about his Rattata in game, I know he was making fun of me. I can feel it in the deepest part of me. I know that he tells everyone he sees during pauses about how he beat me. My friends have called me about it, "So, I ran into this Joey kid who says that he beat you? This is a lie, right?" And they are so stunned when I tell him that I did in fact lose to him the first time I battled him, but I make sure to tell them that it was a complete fluke, that it was the player's fault, not mine. That I wasn't in control of my actions during that fight, but if I were, it would have gone my way. I also make sure to focus on the fact that I trounced him no more than five minutes later in a rematch. Not that I had much of a choice, it seems I have to pull a win against every single trainer in order for me to move forward towards the next town.

The game pauses.

Hastily, I snatch out my phone and speed dial Joey (he's right after my Mom and Elm). "What do you want, you little brat?" I get right to the point.

"Whoa. Are you okay? Is it because I called you a little bit? Did I call at a bad time? I'm sorry, I just hadn't heard from you yet today and I wanted to see how you were doing." His little, meek voice came out of the receiver, irritating me. This little act of his is just that, an act. I know he's actually a brat underneath it. But I'll play along.

"It's fine; I had just finished a battle and was still on that adrenaline rush. How are you and your Pokemon doing? Your Rattata's sweeping the competition? You planning on challenging the Violet City gym anytime soon?"

"Oh no, I'm nowhere near ready for the gym challenges yet, I still have a bit of training to do. My Rattata may be strong, but it isn't ready for Violet City. Plus, no one is allowed to challenge the gym officially while you travel other than your rival, Douchebag…"

"Giovanni Jr."

"… Whatever. Only the two of you, and maybe your neighbor Ethan, are allowed to get gym badges now. I don't know why, but I think it's so the player doesn't become suspicious and realize that we are a living society. We wouldn't want the outside world to become aware now, would we?"

"No, I guess not. But wouldn't that be awesome? Maybe if the player knew about me I could interact with her and we could build the Pokemon party together and pool our strategies! Maybe we would be allowed to move around freely and interact even when the player is watching!"

"I wish, then we could be friends, I could maybe even travel with you, catch new Pokemon, live the life, you know? But it is probably never going to happen. So I'll just stick to calling you every day and annoying you!" I could hear him sticking his tongue out while he said that. Brat.

"Well, I've got to go; I have some things to get in order before this pause ends." I hung up. Putting the phone away, I slid down against a ledge, pulling out my journal.

_Journal Entry #10_

_Today has been strange; I've noticed that I've been becoming more and more like the player. Where at first I would be confused about certain actions of mine, lately I've been cheering them on. Like, when I started, I was so certain that I would have a team of super strong fire and rock types, you know, bruisers. But instead my party has been mainly grass and poison types, good for subtle and support parties and I've been super excited about it. I had no idea why in the world I would want a Zubat on my team, but now Zuzu is a staple of my team. It's really weird to see my mentality change over such a short time._

_Also, Youngster Joey (do I really need to keep the Youngster part of his name whenever I think about him, he's the only Joey I know, but I feel compelled to say it) has been weird. I think of him as a rival. The little brat was the only person to beat me yet in a Pokemon battle. But yet he seems nice to me. Sure he was a brat the first couple of days after he beat me. But he seems to be really interested in how I am doing nowadays. He said that if he could he would want to be my travelling companion. Weird. So weird._

_Oh snap, I heard the warning bell. This pause is almost up. _

_Reminders: call Mom, call Elm, see what can be done about leaving messages for player to know we are real._

And then the flash.


	5. V Unbreakable

**V. Unbreakable**

"**Ah yes, Spinark gained a level. Level 10 for the win."**

The player's voice rumbles down as I finished the battle. Sweet, Parker is doing well.

_Ring, ring_

Awesome, phone call!

_PROF ELM_

STORY LINE TIME! I wonder what's going to happen next, is it a terrorist attack, has Giovanni Jr. AKA Douchebag attacked a local Pokemon orphanage? What is it?

…

Ok, so he wants me to pick up the egg. Wait. He already asked me this. Whoops. I forgot and left town. Guess I should turn around and pick it up. Well, after I heal my Pokemon, and pick up the item my mother bought for me. Oh, and I need to drop off a Pokemon so I can carry the egg, so I'll just walk by the POKE ASST. and go drop off someone.

SOMEONE'S PC? Really? Why can they not tell me who created this Pokemon Storage System? Stupid. Anyways, who should I leave behind? This will be a tough decision I know it.

Or not. The player, obviously, picked for me. Goodbye Leviosa, I guess I won't need you as much now that Zubat is becoming actually useful. Thank you, Wing Attack. _Now_ it is time to pick up that egg.

I zone out as the POKE ASST talks to me. Wait… when did I start talking in ALL CAPS about random objects and people? This is worrisome. Don't hug me, I'm scared! Wait, where did that come from? I blame the player, she's subconsciously taking over my mind. More for my journal.

I start to pay attention again when he mentioned PROF ELM (damn it), but apparently he blew a gasket at the idea of me carrying an EGG. But EGGS are normal nowadays, I don't see what it's such a big deal. I think that he has to be crazy fanatic about it because I'm the chosen one and all that jazz. Hold your ponytas man.

Whatever. I got hero-y things to do. Peace out. I go to leave the POKEMART but am stopped. Ugh. Some geisha lady runs up to me, super excited about something. And, she's making a big deal about my EGG. EGGS are commonplace people! I know you look like you've travelled in time from the ancient past with that get-up, but you obviously seem aware of the existence of EGGS, get with the picture. She leaves with a strange little twirl and I can't help but sigh in relief.

Back to training. I have the EGG precariously placed in my BAG. I don't even get why I had to leave Leviosa behind if I'm keeping this EGG in my BAG. Whatever, video game logic. I level grind a bit more (such a strange phrase, the player is weird), and finally the player decides to pause.

Finally. I causally slide down and sit under a nearby tree and toss my backpack to the side.

THE EGG!

I stumble up and slide over to my BAG. If I crack this EGG now I am screwed! And yet, the EGG is fine. Thank goodness. That was a pretty bad toss though. Some of the food in my back opened (I guess I know what I'm eating for lunch), but yet the EGG was fine. Is it because it's a story element? Are all EGGS indestructible? The world will never know.

The pause ends and I continue on, the incident at lunch leaving my mind. It is brought to my attention again at the next pause, and the next one, where I keep repeating my mistake of throwing my BAG. And yet, still no breaks in the EGG. I start to get devious. I start throwing it against anything I can, hitting it on rocks, tossing my bag against trees. Not even a scratch. That proves it. The EGG is unbreakable. I'm kinda scared.


	6. VI Obsession

**VI Obsession**

It is weird getting calls from people while the player is watching. Their lines are scripted, very strange, and very, well, not them.

JOEY doesn't always talk about his RATTATA nonstop. I know that, if he had the ability to, he would like find a SLACKOTH and raise it up to a SLAKING. It would crush anyone in the way which is really cool, plus the whole every other turn thing really makes strategy such a huge thing.

However, WADE is still strange in real life. The first time he called me, he randomly told me that he has been spending more time with his GOLDEEN than with his children. What? First of all, he's old enough to have kids? What? Why is he randomly calling me up if he's that old? That's mad sketch, yo. Also, spending more time with his POKEMON than his children? Once you have kids, you're expected to give up the adventuring life to raise your kids, not abandon them for your POKEMON. Kids are expected to travel the world and learn everything they can, then settle down in their favorite place and teach the next generation. I know not everyone chooses to settle down, which is cool, but if you do, you stay settled.

Anyways, his obsession with his GOLDEEN is worrying. As is his calling of me, rather than, I don't know, his kids. I know that when the player is watching, he is calling me and saying that sort of thing because the game commands it so, so I excuse whatever is said while the player is watching. But, the thing is, he does it when the game is paused. A lot. It's really creepy. The first few times I would pick up when he called, thinking it was to apologize for the weird things he would say when the game was controlling his actions. But sadly, that was not to be. He instead would call and still tell me all about his GOLDEEN as well as just talk to me. I asked him once why he called me rather than his kids, and he was just like, I like talking to you more. CREEP ALERT. I no longer pick up the phone when he calls. I also try to urge the player to ignore him in the game as well. It sometimes works, though I think that's because she's not paying attention to the bottom screen. I don't really care why, I'm just thankful.

His kids are probably better off without him in their life anyways. Grade A creep.


	7. VII Eternity

**VII Eternity**

There are times that I feel bad for the player, before I remember, you know, that she is controlling my every movement and has systematically destroyed the lives of everyone living in the world of POKEMON. But, when I forget that little fact, there are times I feel bad for her.

I can practically hear you over hear asking what is going on that could be that horrible, so I have your answer, the Ilex Forest. I know that I, for one, hate this forest. I also know that in video games the forest level is usually rather icky. So if it's hell for me, it must be like Dante's Inferno for her. But hey, if she gets tired of it she can just stop playing and take a break from it all… Unlike me.

As you can imagine, that's what is going on now. I've been travelling through this damned forest fighting WEEDLE and CATERPIE left and right. All I can say is thank goodness for the poison types I already have in party, as they can't be poisoned by all the enemies. Huzzah for ZUBAT! Now there's a phrase that I still can't imagine me saying. I also still really happy about my SPINARK. Who knew that a bug POKEMON wouldn't be a waste of my time? This player controlling me is really opening my eyes to the world around me, I have to give her that.

Anyways, back to this forest. It's been a few days since she's last played. That's right, I've been stuck here for DAYS. DAYS! I mean, I am enjoying the freedom, I've actually been keeping up to date with all of my friends and family, and I've been able to walk around and enjoy the scenery, well, as much as one can. I'm just glad that she didn't leave me in the middle of a battle again. That was awkward. Our POKEMON had to just sit there ready to fight for a few days, and my POKEMON that had already fainted had to stay that way until she started to play again. I felt horrible the entire time. But we can't have the player knowing that I am real. I really need to talk to someone about that rule.

I found out, unfortunately after the fact, that the geisha lady that ran into me when I got the EGG back is actually part of a group of geishas that are kinda in control of the world. Unofficially, of course. But they are kinda the spiritual leaders as they can connect with the legendries. Cool beans. But, that also means that they are the ones for me to talk to about talking to the outside player. ELM told me that they reside in Ecruteak. I'll be there in a gym or two anyways, so when I get there I'll have to make sure to drop the idea on them. Maybe, during my off time, I should be creating an argument. I'm sure that they've banned communication for a reason, so I'll have good reasoning as to why we should break the rules. Ugh. So much work. Why can't I be a normal POKEMON TRAINER?

And, come on, where is the player, I want to get out of this forest, it goes on FOREVER. If I never see another tree or WEEDLE it will be too soon.

**Sorry for the long wait for this. College, man. I stopped updating when the end of semester projects started up. Now that I am settled in at home, I should be able to write a bit more. Thank you all for reading and reviewing, it really makes my day!**


	8. VIII Gateway

**VIII Gateway**

I miss the sky.

I'm not just saying that because I'm stuck in some stupid forest either. I miss it more than anything else, expect maybe my freedom. When I was younger, I'd spend most of my afternoons lying on the knoll in town, looking at the clouds. ETHAN would often join me, as well as MARILL, once he got him. We would just spend our afternoons there, doing our homework, reading a book together, planning out our POKEMON journey together. If I had known that the day before I picked up my POKEMON would be my last day with the sky, I wouldn't have run inside so quickly for cake. You really learn to appreciate things.

You're probably sitting there wondering, what the heck does she mean by that? I know what you're thinking, the sky doesn't just up and vanish. Well, I guess it does when you're entire life has been turned into a video game. I don't even know if other people have the same problem as me, or if it is just another perk to being the protagonist. But nowadays, when I look up at the sky, I just see the player's face. Well, when she's playing, of course. I just look up and bam, there she is. Of course, it could be worse, she could be ugly or have a perchance to play naked. I always have to look on the bright side. But still, no more sky, no more sun, no more clouds. My heart aches whenever I look up and don't see that one reminder of home.

You would think, when the player pauses or turns off the game that things would go back to normal, right? Nope. The sky just goes blank. Dark, actually. Everything is cast in a shadow. I don't really know how to describe it. It's like someone took the brightness slider in a game and turned it down a few notches. Ugh. Anyways, even though she is gone, there is still no sky. The first time I saw that that was true my heart broke. I had so much hope that in the times she was away that everything would be back to normal. Sure I can walk around (though I try not to go to far as the gut-wrenching feeling of being teleported back to where you were when she left gets more unpleasant the further it goes), but the world still feels wrong. How much longer until I can go back to normal?

I'm so glad that MOM managed to snag a picture of ETHAN and me on the knoll. I make sure to take it out whenever I get really homesick, like now. He is reading a book out loud to MARILL and me, I forget which one. I'm staring straight up at the sky, pointing out a cloud that looks just like one of the characters in the story, we always used to do that. Like when he read out the story of Despereaux, the PICHU from KALOS that tried to save a princess all on his own. I spent that afternoon trying to find PICHU and RATICATE in the sky.

What I wouldn't give to see the sky once more.


End file.
